Dominik Baumann

Dominik Baumann is a racing driver from Austria who achieved the most in sports car racing. Most recently, he was the 2016 Blancpain GT Series champion.

Earlier in a career, he won 2012 FIA GT3 European Championship. He clinched both titles as Mercedes driver. Baumann currently drives Mercedes in different GT competitions and Hyundai in the TCR Europe Series.

Dominik Baumann

Early success in karting competitions

Born in October 1992, Baumann began his racing career in karting at the age of 11 and in his second season he became a champion of Tyrol region. In 2005, Dominik defended his crown and also entered some international events, competing in DKM and in selected races in Italy. He stayed in karting until the end of 2008 and he had a considerable success. In 2008, he qualified for the Karting World Championship in the senior KF2 class and also became the first Austrian driver who attended Innsbruck Sport Academy.

Unsuccessful try in Formula ADAC

After graduating in karting, Baumann moved to Formula ADAC. He spent two years in the series but without too much success. In 2009, he finished 12th in the Drivers’ championship while in 2010 he moved up to the 7th position.

Dominik Baumann pictured in 2009

Dominik switched to GT racing in 2011

Since 2011, Dominik is racing sports cars that suit him much better. Baumann won the FIA GT3 European Teams’ Championship driving for Heico Motorsport. He was 4th in the Drivers’ championship driving alongside Brice Bosi and he scored one victory at Slovakiaring.

The same year he also debuted in the ADAC GT Masters, the championship that soon became his main occupation. Driving Heico Motorsport’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 alongside experienced compatriot Harald Proczyk, Baumann finished 5th in the final standings which was a good result for a rookie.

Buhk and Baumann were 2012 FIA GT3 European champions

Baumann won the FIA GT3 European Championship title

The season of 2012 was even better. Baumann was crowned as the FIA GT3 European Champion. Driving alongside Maximilian Buhk, the Austrian racer, was impressive and won they 6 out of 12 races. He also helped Heico team to win the Teams’ championship title and at the end of the season he rightfully became FIA Central European Zone Young Talent of the Year.

Dominik also continued to race alongside Proczyk in ADAC GT Masters, but the Austrian pair wasn’t as good as in the previous year and they dropped to the 9th place overall.

ADAC GT Masters became a priority

In 2013, Baumann has competed in the FIA GT Series, driving for GRT Grasser Racing Team, sharing the seat of Lamborghini Gallardo with Proczyk. He finished the season in 3rd place in Pro-Am category after scoring two wins in his class, at Zandvoort and Baku.

Dominik also changed team colors in ADAC GT Masters. Driving a Team Schubert’s BMW Z4 alongside Claudia Hurtgen, Baumann took the 5th position in the championship after winning the races at the famous tracks of Spa and Nurburgring.

Blancpain GT Series debut in 2014

A new challenge for Baumann arrived in 2014 when he made a debut in the Blancpain GT Series. Still driving Team Schubert’s BMW but this time alongside Thomas Jager, he finished 8th which was a good result considering he missed opening two rounds and retired from 4 out of 10 races he entered. However, he won one race, again at Slovakiaring, and finished 2nd at Zandvoort.

The results in ADAC GT Masters were much better. Baumann and Hurtgen took the 4th place in the final standings, with two wins on their accounts, at Lausitzring and, you guess Slovakiaring. Their performance helped Team Schubert to finish 3rd in the Teams’ championship.

Baumann and Jens Klingmann, 2015 ADAC GT Masters

Narrowly missing ADAC GT Masters title in 2015 season

In 2015, Baumann focused solely on ADAC GT Masters and was the striking force of BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert. This time, he was driving alongside Jens Klingmann and with Bruno Spengler in one race and scored four wins, at Spa, Lausitzring, Sachsenring, and Zandvoort, but that still wasn’t enough for the title. Dominik finished the season as a vice-champion, 13 points behind the champions Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch.

2016 Blancpain GT Series champion with Buhk

A bit surprisingly, he left ADAC GT Masters in 2016 and switched to Blancpain GT Series with HTP Motorsport, driving a Mercedes alongside his old partner Maxi Buhk. The two were an excellent combination and became the champions after a very exciting season. They won the endurance race at Silverstone, with Jazeman Jaafar as a third driver, later they won Sprint Cup main race at Hungaroring.

In the Endurance Cup, they were second at the end of the season. In the Sprint Cup, they finished third in the points. In the overall classification, they were crowned as Blancpain GT Series champions.

Time for celebration - 2016 Blancpain GT Series champion

No wins in the 2017 Blancpain GT Series season

In 2017, Baumann was sharing the #85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes with Edward Sandstrom and Fabian Schiller in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, finishing 15th in the points after five races.

In the Sprint Cup, his full-time partner in the #86 car was Jimmy Eriksson and they finished 14th in the points, scoring just one podium in ten races.

Dominik Baumann at Mid-Ohio after a victory in GTD class of the IMSA race

IMSA Championship as a priority in 2018

In 2018, Baumann's priority became the IMSA SportsCar Championship. He joined 3GT Racing to drive the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 in GTD class alongside Kyle Marcelli as his co-driver. They won two races, at Mid-Ohio and Virginia, finishing fifth in the points. Outside IMSA Championship, Baumann occasionally competed with Mercedes in different competitions (VLN, 24H Series, ADAC GT Masters, 24h Nurburgring) but also with Aston Martin at Spa 24 Hours.

In 2019, Baumann continues to drive Mercedes for different teams all around the world, but also joined Target Competition to drive a Hyundai i30 N TCR in the second part of the TCR Europe Series season.

Photo: dominik-baumann.at neuhauser-racing.at media.daimler.com eurocarnews.com adac-motorsport.de bmwgroup.com